Jack Harper: "Everybody dies, Sally. The thing is to die well."
**This review contains spoilers**
With Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko
I read an article some time ago about Tom Cruise and his propensity to play roles where the protagonist has a fractured persona, and is unable to distinguish where his real self begins and where the mask leaves off. The article was a little cruel I think in that it conflated this observation with Tom Cruise as a person and how they believed he was just as empty and soulless and searching as the characters he plays are. Nevertheless, he does tend to attract and continue to show interest in these kinds of roles but I think this has more to do with having been typeset by Hollywood and simply working within this niche than any deep existential angst on his part. One can argue that he is perpetuating the postmodern protagonist who does not have a stable 'self' to discover, and that the yearning to discover is what in a loose way defines who he is. This film, Oblivion I think reinforces this concept, as I'll explore further on.
At the time I read the article, this film hadn't been released yet but the plot and title were already known. So to some extent I had an idea what this film would be about, and started seeing it with the themes of identity and soul and the differences between the exterior and the interior, lived life on my mind. Not to reduce the film in any way but the way I interpreted it was just another film in vein of a long range of films (and to name only a few) beginning with Solaris, perhaps, to Moon, Minority Report, Blade Runner, Gattaca, I, Robot, Total Recall, The Island, Cloud Atlas, Equilibrium, even Wall-E and last but not least, The Matrix Trilogy all of which explore themes of isolation, individuality, the self (what constitutes the self, the purpose of the self, the material substance of the self) with themes of technology and A.I. and perceived threats of the increasing role of science and its consequences on religion and the place of god, nature, love, and all the other good old fashioned things. And the decision to be aware, and the enormity of the decision.
The film is about a curious but troubled "repair" man, Jack Harper, who lives in a post apocalyptic world where a sentient race, nicknamed the "Scavs" blew up Earth's moon in order to destroy the planet and have access to the abundance of energy available on Earth. By day he is part of an "effective team" with his mission assistant and lover, Victoria, repairing drones that have been damaged by the Scavs and by night he is plagued by dreams that feel too realistic to be dreams of a beautiful woman and a place in New York before the great war. Then, in a series of accidents, he witnesses a crash only to see that several cryogenic chambers have been dropped on Earth and are being pursued by the drones who are trained to kill all but Jack and Victoria. Of the chambers, he is only able to rescue one, and no surprise, but it is the girl from his dreams. She wakes, they have an outing together and are kidnapped by the Scav. And the rest is history.
To say Oblivion is predictable is to put it very mildly indeed. If you've watched any of the movies above you will most definitely see any and all plot twists within minutes of the film. Not to mention the numerous instances of foreshadowing and references to a handful of films, some of which are mentioned above. That said, what exactly then justifies seeing this film? Is it the stunning graphics? In a sense even the graphics are hardly much of a shocker anymore, as beautiful as they are (especially the panoramic views of a post apocalyptic Earth, imbued with a little too much sentimentality and dripping with postcard worthy sunlight and vistas--rendering even the most natural of events and scenes with an uneasy hue of Photoshop-esque perfection) and much of the new high-tech gadgets seem like those of just every other sci-fi film with a large enough budget. It can hardly be the dialogue, which though contains some witty lines, can nearly make you cringe with some of its soap-opera theatrics.
But what justifies seeing this film was the awareness it seemed to contain of exactly how redundant it was, how ordinary and recognizable it was. The point is what is going to happen after all has been said and done. By this I mean, the film shows an uncanny awareness that we know the enemies aren't the Scavs, we know that the organization Jack and Victoria are working for are far more sinister than thought. We can even guess at them being clones. But what we don't know is how does being a clone affect them, their relationships? What does that have to say about truth and authenticity?
In the end of the film the mainframe of the Tet, the mastermind behind the war, articulates-- "But I created you Jack. I am god." Jack's emphatic response ("Fuck you, Sally") was great because it finally zeroes in one what the film is trying to say. A clone will always be a clone and nothing else unless it can feel emotion (valor, honor, love, curiosity) and a god is not a god unless it can give birth (and not just as an artificial womb as is symbolically portrayed by the vaginal shape of the Tet and the sperm-like spacecraft with which Jack enters ) -- ie, nothing can be an ultimate power without being vulnerable and humble in a way. Like a plant, or a fish. Or like the strong winds in the painting that recurs throughout the film. Or in a book, faded and discolored but powerful in its emotional breadth. The very dirt of life is its appeal, its power. The closeness with nature.
One of my favorite moments in the film was the discussion between Jack and Julia, and how they want to spend the rest of their life together, and even die together and be forgotten by everyone--only it wouldn't matter because they would have known and loved each other, and that alone will last an eternity. Here, death is seen as something precious and important, without which the meaning attributed to relationships and life quickly disintegrates. There needs to be a sense of urgency, of scarcity. Life as a matter of consequence, and not an endless stream of repetition.
70/100
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